Globalization in the Context of Ghana Development Prospects Essay

Globalization in the Context of Ghana Development Prospects - Essay Example Ghana’s story, like many African and South American countries, is a story characterized by a mixed fortune of charismatic leadership with a determination to bring economic prosperity within their soil. With a dream of development prospects to the western standards, the original desire of Ghana’s leadership after independence was a state of parity in a record time of ten years under ideological stewardship of Kwame Nkrumah. Even though development was never fully achieved within the period, international political influences remained fully ingrained in the country’s undertakings. From independence upfront, Ghana adopted foreign policy principles and ideals of nonalignment and Pan-Africanism enunciated by Kwame Nkrumah’s tenure. Accordingly, the adoption of nonalignment stand was a counter-strategy measure against the infiltration of antagonistic policies perpetuated by alliances of both the East and West power blocs. On the other end, Pan-Africanism was a c ooperative visionary policy aimed at liberating the continent from Western colonialism and uniting it for a more consolidated economic and political independence (Ofusu par 33). The country’s active participation in the various organizations such as the United Nations, African Union, and ECOWAS is a clear indication of its commitment to the maintenance of friendly relations and cooperation on the basis of mutual respect and noninterference from other countries irrespective of ideological differences.Taking colonialism off their shoulders, the post-independence national reconstruction placed Ghana as a middle-income country by the 1960s, with its citizenry enjoying relatively stable socio-economic standards of living. As fate would have it, political instability coupled with economic mismanagement by the military juntas in the 1970s eroded the positive economic gains at independence, eventually plunging the country into severe socio-economic crisis. As the wee hours of the 197 0s approached, the country’s gross domestic product’s declining rate was alarming, pushing every sector